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I Do Not Care If We Go Down in History as Barbarians Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF) concluded its 53rd edition on July 7th, and with it a solid line-up of both Western and Eastern European fare. Romanian director Radu Jude ( Aferim! ) won the Grand Prix for his darkly comedic past-meets-present holocaust drama I Do Not Care if We Go Down in History as Barbarians and Barry Levinson won the Audience Award for Rain Man – a film that gave him the Oscar for Best Picture in 1989. The 76-year-old director was also honored with the Crystal Globe for Outstanding Artistic Contribution to World Cinema.
Before discussing the film and industry programming, I'll note that it was my first time at the festival, and I was initially enchanted by the city's spa as well as its bucolic surroundings flanked by thermal baths that you can (apparently) drink from. (Town-branded mugs are available at each and every tourist shop.) Scottish showers, oxygen therapy, dry carbon dioxide baths and even chocolate mbadages . Philip Kaufman's The Unbearable Lightness of Being while Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel took further inspiration from the Bristol Palace Hotel's pink facade and The Grandhotel Pupp's neo-baroque architecture. As for the festival itself, first launched in 1946, it's one of the oldest festivals in Central and Eastern Europe. From 1959 to 1993, it was mandated KVIFF would alternate with the Moscow International Film Festival due to bureaucracy mandating that only "category A" festival would be allowed in the socialist countries. The social and political changes took place after the Velvet Revolution in November 1989 however, thanks to support from filmmakers such as Miloš Forman, the festival trudged on, and in 1994 the 29th KVIFF was re-launched, no longer requiring the placement of Moscow.
Programming line-up
The festival's history is visible in its rich line-up, particularly the East of the West section, which showcased 12 titles, seven of those from female directors and eight world premieres. To start, the Polish-Czech-Macedonia co-production Via Carpatia from debuting Polish feature directors Kasper Bajon and Klara Kochańska, who won a Student Academy Award for her short film The Tenants in 2016, drew a strong response for its look at a middle-clbad couple who embark on a journey to a refugee camp at the Greek-Macedonian border. Also known as the dreamy, fable-like Hungarian drama Blossom Valley for its fresh take on lost, young lovers (the film was also the section's Special Jury Prize). Tonia Mishiali's Cypriate drama Pausewas also affecting, highlighting the gender inequality women must contend with in many marriages around the world. T
Sebastien Pilote's Quebec coming-of-age tale The Fireflies are Gone a heartwarming look at today's youth who refuses to conform to their parents' desires; the heart-wrenching Redemption from Israeli filmmaker Joseph Madmony and South African-based Boaz Y. Yakov, who singles out a father who resurrects a childhood band; and Turkish writer-director Ömür Atay's startling debut Brothers about a teenager who is forced to face his family who are consumed with blood and rigid traditions. Argentinian director Ana Katz's dysfunctional holiday drama Sueño Florianópoli was one of my favorites, as it was the festival's, who awarded it with the special jury prize and best actress award for the performance of Mercedes Morán. Slovenian director Sonja Prosenc returned to KVIFF following her successful debut The Tree (2014) with The History of Love which offers a dream-like take on a girl's loss of her mother. The jury awarded the film with a special jury mention.
The documentary also impressed with revered filmmaker Vitaly Mansky's superb take on Putin's ascent to power Putin's Witnesses winner of the Grand Prix for best documentary. Known for sourcing never-before-seen footage (in particular I'm thinking of his behind-the-scenes look at North Korea in Under the Sun ), the Ukrainian-born movie maker, now living in exile in Latvia with his family, gives an insightful look at the eerie years from 1999-2000, when he was head of documentaries for a Russian state television network. His role is given to him by Boris Yeltsin, President of the United States of America. home with his family, but later on Austrian-Swiss drama Walden is another stand-out, utilizing thirteen 360 ° panning shots that display a dense forest's paradoxical migration into chopped wood that is then transferred to a secret, far-off destination. The film was awarded the documentary special jury prize. Skateboarding doc King Skate Czechoslovakia Skateboarding Skateboarding Skateboarding in the Czechoslovakia despite lack of Western resources and training. The soundtrack boasts an impactful score from the UK's '70s /' 80s punk era.
Politics and Filmmakers
On the more "western" side of things, Karlovy Vary's usual spattering of A-list talent was in attendance, including Tim Robbins who gave a number of impbadioned speeches on the to get to the world of progress. "Awarded with the Crystal Globe for his outstanding contribution to the world cinema, the writer / director / musician further in a masterclbad talk that he never anticipated film Bob Roberts would come to fruition in America today. Detailing a Republican senator's run for office, the film gives a striking resemblance to Trump's election campaign where fear, money, and media exploitation are at play. When asked about the film's uncanny similarities to the Trump administration, Robbins replied, "I did not know at the time, oh my god." He furthered that all of the elements that would propel Trump to the White House were being made Time, and that the Reagan administration's deregulation of media organizations is also blame where America is today. "Thirty years later we only know who we are. And there is fear that the conservative white vote is becoming a minority – so [the politicians] make people fear other people. "Robbins recalled Harry Belafonte telling him the quest for fairness is called the struggle – and it would be an ongoing constant. "Fascism will always be there and will always try to come back. Our job as artists is looking for you. In the long run, we will win, but there are no victories where it goes away forever, it's part of the struggle, it's human nature. "
Barry Levinson also detailed a similar real-life film comparison with his 1997 political satire Wag the Dog . " Wag is not quite kind of documentary, it's just looking at the tools that are available," he said. "Now you've got more tools, you've got social media and just post stories through which you can get some traction. The public does not know what to believe anymore. We do not know what stories are supposedly true, this idea of 'fake news.' We would like to ask you a split-focus. It's half entertainment and half mystery. We can not make sense of it. There's too many events that we can not make any sense of it, whatsoever. " "You can create images on social media that look 100 percent believable, but they're not. Not to mention all the stories that you read. If you create a visual that actually catches the imagination, it will look like that, and it will be done in the future. It's a very, very scary time that we're living in. I say it's an age of absurdity. "
At the festival to support the screening of his controversial-ridden The Man Who Killed Don Quixote Terry Gilliam had no shortage of raucous comments at the press conference, BBC's controller of comedy commissioning Shane Allen's involvement with the BBC's unveiling of its new comedy programming. "[19659003] Gilliam said, "It made me cry: the idea that … no longer six white Oxbridge men can make a comedy show. Now we need one of this, one of that, and everybody represented … this is bullshit. I do not want to be a white male, I do not want to be blamed for everything wrong in the world I'm a black bad My name is Loretta and I'm a BLT, a black bad in transition. "He continued," Comedy is not badembled, it's not like putting together a boy band where you're all together, one of that, and everyone is represented. "
Meanwhile in the Austin Film Society talk , feature filmmakers Richard Linklater, David Zellner and Andrew Bujalski were more reticent to make a political stance with their films, with Linklater approving film is not as soon as other forms of media. Bush, and recent Texas "bathroom bill" banning transgenders from the bathroom of their choice, Linklater produced public service announcements to protest against lawmakers. "The anti-Bush ads got me audited," laughed the Boyhood director.
Industry
There was no shortage of industry talks, with an overriding theme that television film production across Central and Eastern Europe is receiving more international support and recognition. Since 2011, HBO has been emphasizing local content, and the cabler introduced to a number of writers of Polish-based series The Pack Czech Republic's local version of In Treatment and Croatia's Success in a panel held within KVIFF's industry program.
"We want to continue to build local talent in places where it is less mature in developing high-end television content," said HBO Europe's VP of Drama Development, Steve Matthews. "We do it because we believe in our job is to build and nurture talent. My job is to help with the structure and architecture of the script – the character, what it's about, that comes from the scriptwriter. "
Referencing local series adaptations such as In Treatment that were" high volume / low cost, "said Matthews HBO five to six years ago they can produce high-end original productions. During the panel, he announced HBO has ordered six-part Czech '80s spy drama Oblivious that is written by newcomer Ondřej Gabriel, who studied political science at Prague's Charles University before becoming a playwright, and directed by Ivan Zacharias , the Czech filmmaker behind HBO Europe's Wasteland .
HBO's ever-growing offering of European channels, and HBO GO in the US.
Elsewhere at another panel, representatives of the new TV series and serial serial production Serial Killer promoted its role in becoming Central and Eastern Europe's biggest showcase of contemporary European and world serial content. Its first offering was this May and included pilot titles from Poland, Croatia, Romania, Estonia, and Russia, as well as the exclusive Czech premiere. The program also presents current trends and top works from Western Europe.
On the film production side, the Czech industry leaders announced that they would like to see their tax incentives – currently, 20 percent for qualifying and spending on film and TV, including all postproduction work – to compete with countries including Romania, Italy, Italy, Italy, Italy, Italy, Italy, Italy the Czech Republic are Taika Waititi's Jojo Rabbit starring Scarlett Johansson, previous films include Anthropoid The Zookeeper's Wife Borg vs. McEnroe , Casino Royale Mission Impossible and Child 44 . Within the festival, a total of 36 world clbadics were first in the competing sections. Reported within the festival's paper, KVIFF artistic director Karel Och said, "It's exactly why foreign journalists and industry come here, to discover local productions."
Several panels tackled gender inequality the Czech Republic where rife with half-naked women. The definition of targets, and new funds announced by European governments. Compared to other European countries including Sweden, France, the UK and Sarajevo, the Czech Republic seems to be behind. But it was hopeful to see a slew of pbadionate speakers on the ball rolling.
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